


College Soccer Stars

by Shatterpath



Series: The 13 AUs of Christmas 2017 [11]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Sports, F/F, Football | Soccer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 22:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13110120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: They had met unexpectedly over a petri dish of bacteria and a terrible joke and enough stifled laughter to get glared at by the rest of the class. That had led to coffee and homework and shy looks and soft touches and a bond neither expected. They were a classic love story, the famous jock and the faceless nerd, come together through mutual intelligence and a soft, sweet bond.For the thirteen AUs of Christmas, my author wrote for me,A cheesy filk sung badly,Luthors who aren't evil,Sexy Space pirates,Amazing awful first date,Meeting at a fan con,Christmas at Hogwarts,Stranded with one bed,Little girls with crushes,A critically thought out ABOooooo!Soulmate inner voice,College soccer stars,





	College Soccer Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theillogicalthinker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theillogicalthinker/gifts), [GeekyStorytelling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeekyStorytelling/gifts).



> So, theillogicalthinker has been begging me for a soccer story since we became friends. I know squat about the sport and that's all that was holding me back. Then Geekystorytelling got in on it, and how can I refuse two of my three main troublemakers?
> 
> And I hear it's the Gayest Sport On Earth, so…

The game had been an outlet, a focus for a mind too busy and an energy level too high. Soon messing around with friends became Saturdays at the YMCA, became after school athletics and practices coming with more and more frequency. 

Then had come the new little sister, the both of them awkward adolescents with their own pains and problems and interests.

And soccer became a link between them.

At first, Kara had only joined Alex to fit in, to impress the big sister she almost instantly idolized. But she was gawky and not at all light on her feet. At least not as a runner. At the end of their collective ropes, Alex had convinced the coach to try the little blonde at the keeper post. She looked so tiny and forlorn in front of the huge net… and almost nothing could get past her. She could leap like a rabbit and calculate angles and speed like a machine and let loose the rage of loss her quietness hid. 

The separation of the sister's ages was hard at times, when they were attending different schools. But they kept at their sport, practiced around homework and meals and sleep.

As the sister grew closer, their game grew ever better, speed and skill and sheer determination spiced with a little friendly one-upmanship that others couldn't help but respond to. Through them, the entire community upped their own game, more kids playing and playing better, a better coach hired by the school district. 

And time passed. 

They grew into themselves, became powerful and intelligent and driven young women. The summer before she entered high school, Kara hit a growth spurt that shot her up nearly eight inches and she was a bottomless pit of hunger and the dull agony of bone growth. Alex helped her through it as best she could with exercise and pampering and general nagging and cajoling like only a sister could provide. Larger and stronger, Kara was all the more a sentinel protecting the net while Alex was a blur of motion on the field. 

For two years, they ruled the school, but their time ran out with Alex's graduation. Colleges had been competing for their attention for years and the sisters could afford to be picky and make a few demands. So Alex would take a year off to sow her wild oats, as it were. Do a little traveling and see a little bit of the world and let it perhaps settle her restless spirit a bit. 

But she would not be rushed, because playing soccer without Kara would never feel right. And no matter how smart and driven Kara was, she still couldn't skip two grades. Still, Kara said she could knuckle down and qualify for high school graduation a year early.

Kara said she could do it, and that promise was always more than enough for Alex.

And with that promise, they immortalized their bond with a set of matching tattoos, a flowing motif of wind and wave and field that wrapped around their lower right thighs, just above the knee. In the riot of curling water and smoky clouds and rippling grass lay two letters, the nicknames they had borne since coming together in an adoptive act of mercy that made them the best of friends. 

DS on Alex, for Danvers Senior, and DJ for Kara, the junior Danvers, who clung to that adopted name like her only lifeline to sanity.

It also made their mother blow a gasket, so teenage shenanigans bonus there.

One year and half a summer later, they strode onto their next stage, Los Angeles making them feel very small and very determined. Even junior nationals hadn't really prepared them for UCLA in all of its vast busyness, but they relished the exhilarating shock. 

And Alex shone, Kara steady as a tree with snake-fast hands beside her. The game had always been Alex's, the violence and speed and sheer effort of it lighting her up like a bonfire. Kara had merely been drawn into her orbit, become the perfect partner, the thunder to Alex's lightning. 

To the beat of the home crowd screaming, "Bru-ins! Bru-ins!" the players in blue were a storm of movement around the lightning and thunder. It wasn't always easy in a team sport to have a star in their midst, but Alex was not only gifted, but a natural leader and genuinely likable. Lucy nimbly kicked the ball away and Susan went for it like a bull to a red cape. Frankly, it was a miracle she didn't draw a yellow card every time she feinted at someone. Sam was a new addition and could kick like she had a semi-truck engine block behind her, scoring the first goal and getting the UCLA blue hopped up on their success.

Exhilarated at their skill and the roar of the crowd, Alex dug deep into her star midfield skills and leapt with her whole body to protect the corner. It was enough, the ball smacking her in the forehead hard enough to see stars and her body slamming into the turf just inside the box.

The familiar shriek of the ref's whistle sounded far away.

Humph, concussion protocol then. Bummer. 

Shadows made the blazing sun overhead flicker and gentle hands were on her overheated skin. The trainers fussed over her with businesslike efficiency, going over their basic exam and mopping a bit of blood from the slicing grass over the ridge of eyesocket. Alex couldn't help but daydream a less businesslike touch, but forced herself to shake it off. Breath returning to her shocked lungs, she stretched and tested out her limbs and torso for undue pain. Nothing unmanageable, but she was in for an uncomfortable ice soak and hobbling like a invalid for a bit. 

The little cluster of medical staff backed off when their star defender coiled up, shifting to roll and leap to her feet as though nothing had happened. Raising both fists up triumphantly, she waved to the crowd as the whistle shrieked again.

Though there was only one person she really wanted to reassure that she was okay. There was a great deal of knowing chuckles from her teammates as they moved to fall into play once more. 

Like she always had, Alex seemed to thrive off the beat of pain in her body, the pulse of it a steady throb like her hardworking heart. It somehow pushed her like something to be beaten, conquered, bested.

They fought hard for their tie and the enemy's best kicker wasn't quite good enough to get past Kara's freakishly fast hands. Victory was theirs! 

Rather than get in on the wild group hug, Alex collapsed to the turf and lay there, knees propped up and a huge grin on her face. It had been a tough game and she was exhausted. Of course, that meant that Kara could pounce on her, face wild with excitement. "High five, DS!" 

"Nice catch, DJ," Alex laughed, wearily smacking the offered hand. Climbing off of her, Kara hauled her to weary feet and gripped her tight to her side. The sisters and their teammates waved to the excited crowd and began the trek back to their locker room. 

But there was a stop Alex had to make first.

With a bit of her breath back, she made a quick trot across the grass and took a flying leap at the stands to haul herself up the guardrail like a monkey. There, she sought out the girl who had done what life had never been able to do for an endlessly restless Alex Danvers. Green eyes sparkling with delight and a smile that lit up Alex's world more than the blinding electric lights all around them, Lena met her battered warrior with a hard, enveloping hug. They both ignored the bright lights and cameras and screaming fans with a long, involved kiss that made it all fade away for an endless moment. 

They had met unexpectedly over a petri dish of bacteria and a terrible joke and enough stifled laughter to get glared at by the rest of the class. That had led to coffee and homework and shy looks and soft touches and a bond neither expected. They were a classic love story, the famous jock and the faceless nerd, come together through mutual intelligence and a soft, sweet bond.

"Hey good-lookin'," Alex flirted breathlessly with a dopey smile, their noses still touching. "Come around here often?"

Every bit as smitten, Lena ruffled her sweaty hair and gripped Alex close again, breathing her in.

"There are better ways to impress a girl, DS," Lena sassed warmly as she leaned back a bit only enough to trace around the bruising and little cuts on the curve of eyesocket. "Then using this stubborn head of yours as a battering ram."

"Yeah?" Alex said a little stupidly, caught up in the softness of her, the scratch of nails on her sweaty skin where Lena had tucked her hand under the blue jersey. "It seems to have worked out for us."

"Oh come on!" Kara fake-raged nearby at the flirting and a smile played around Lena's mouth at the antics. There were days she could barely keep up with the sisters, days where the attention on them scared Lena to death to be caught in that same spotlight, but they were both worth it. Friends with both, more with Alex, they had brought a stability and satisfaction to the lonely youngest of her aloof family. Alex was the hot fire to her coolness, Kara a steadying influence to both of them. 

Still wrapped around Alex, Lena dangled herself over the railing just enough to slap Kara's offered hand, the friends grinning wildly at one another. Then Lena gave one more lingering kiss to her girlfriend before playfully pushing at her. "Go on then, you sweaty animal. Go finish your game day and I promise beer, burgers and cuddling later!"

"Promise?"

"Always!"


End file.
